KALINIĆ: PRESERVING HISTORICAL LEGACY OF CREATION AND DEFENSE OF SRPSKA

PALE, OCTOBER 23 /SRNA/ - Former Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Dragan Kalinić told SRNA that the political circumstances under which the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH will be marked tomorrow can, in terms of their complexity and even dramatic nature, be compared to the historic moves and decisions made by Serb MPs in 1991 and 1992, when the foundations of Republika Srpska were laid.

"When, in those October days of 1991, it became clear that the survival of the Serb people, their freedom and equality with the other two peoples in BiH, had become a matter of to be or not to be, when the threat of repeating a tragic history loomed over us both politically and physically, all Serbs in the then People’s Assembly of the Socialist Republic of BiH demonstrated the highest level of political maturity and national consciousness," said Kalinić, a member the first convocation of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH. He emphasized that they rejected the declaration on BiH’s independence and its secession from Yugoslavia, which was backed by an unprincipled coalition of Bosniak Muslims and Croats. "The SDA and HDZ tied their flags together, and the Serbs had only one choice - to form their own assembly. That choice proved to be both historic and far-reaching. In January 1992, before the outbreak of the tragic war, we established an independent and democratic Republika Srpska with all its institutions, in accordance with the highest European standards," Kalinić said. According to him, the Serb MPs at the time did not come under the SDS umbrella, but rather under a common roof with their endangered people. "Our army and police, with the strongest possible support from the people, played a crucial role in defending our young state. During the war, Serb MPs from both the ruling and opposition parties demonstrated the highest level of unity and consensus on key national issues, engaging in democratic debate in the National Assembly," said Kalinić. According to him, this, among other things, preserved Republika Srpska and enabled them to emerge from every crisis — and there were countless ones during those difficult years — stronger and more determined to defend what the best among them had given their lives for. "This is a reminder that should also apply to today’s complex political circumstances, in which uncontrolled passions, statements, and actions — even a kind of political irrationality — outweigh common sense, while narrow party and even personal interests are brought to the forefront," said Kalinić. He expressed his conviction that the eventual resolution of this "Bosnian Gordian knot" will also be favorable for Republika Srpska, and that the Serb people have every reason to believe in such a positive outcome.